Eyeglasses are generally supported on the wearer's nose by nose pads, which are mounted on the eyeglass frames and contact the wearer's nose. These nose pads are typically made of plastic or silicone material, which are shaped to be comfortable for the wearer.
It is known that people who wear eyeglasses can develop basil or more serious cancerous cells in the region of the nose that is contacted by the eyeglass nose pads. It is known that intense ultra-violet light can result in the growth of cancer cells on human skin. Commercially available nose pads can result in the concentration of the incident light energy that strikes the surface of the nose pad that is attached to the eyeglass frame. The light rays travel through the nose pad to the opposite side and, when exiting, the light rays are optically focused onto certain areas on the side the wearer's nose. The result is that there are areas of concentrated light that strike the wearer's nose, due to the optical design of the nose pad, which optically concentrates the light. Essentially, the nose pad acts as a magnifying glass concentrating the incident light energy onto the skin of the wearer's nose. This increases the chance that the skin under the nose pad will develop an abnormality such as skin cancer. A problem to be solved is that the prior art transparent nose pad designs act to increase the localized intensity of light falling on the wearer's nose thereby increasing the chance of cancerous cells forming on the root section of the wearer's nose.